Bishop Plouffe Christmas message

NEWS RELEASE

JEAN-LOUIS PLOUFFE BISHOP OF SAULT STE. MARIE

**************************** Christmas message 2010

Will Christ remain homeless?

We live in an era where, unfortunately, the gesture of sharing with the less fortunate is often overshadowed by the growing gap between the rich and the poor, where efforts for peace between nations are neutralized by mutual mistrust and where the rediscovery of the spiritual dimension in life is darkened by religious intolerance of all sorts.

Despite this, I cannot help but remember the message of Jesus whose birth we will soon celebrate and simply say, thank you.

Yes, thank you Lord, for the hope that Christmas 2010 will again spark in the core of our broken society and our wounded Church.

The divisions, the hurts, the worries, the corruption and the daily grind which characterize our world, constantly remind us of how desperately we need God!

“Every person," states Pope Benedict XVI, "needs a 'centre' in his life, a source of truth and goodness to draw from in the flux of the different situations of everyday life and its toil. Every one of us, when he pauses for a moment of silence, needs to feel not only the beating of his own heart, but more deeply, the beating of a trustworthy presence, perceptible to the senses of faith and yet more real: the presence of Christ, heart of the world."

It seems to me that Christmas comes to allow us to post on the screen of our priorities the sacred in our lives, the spiritual dimension of our experiences and the reality of faith.

More than 2000 years ago, in Bethlehem, “there was no room in the inn” (Luke 2:7) for the Holy Family.

The Child-God was born in a makeshift shelter.

Today we would say He was like a homeless person.

If we do not want Christ to continue being homeless, we must learn to recognize His presence in the centre of our daily lives.

For this to happen, it is important to allow ourselves the quiet space to welcome the newborn Saviour into our own interior.

In the 4th century, St. Augustine had a similar thought when he wrote at Christmas: “Life itself was manifested in the flesh so that what only the heart can see could be seen also by the eyes, and thus the heart is healed.”

Once the heart is healed, it will be easier to welcome Him into the events and relationships that the new year will ring in.

We must ensure that the mystery of our God who makes Himself close to us, enters into our homes, our schools, our work and our gathering places.

Before every suffering, anguish, loneliness, injustice, separation, oppression, discrimination, addiction, violence, pain and grief, may the Child-God gift us with a new heart to love, a new mind to believe and a new vision to hope.

The holiday season can become a significant and lasting moment of forgiveness, peace and reconciliation in our world, our communities, and in our parishes, if we each free ourselves of all that narrows our perception of life and people.

Only then, can we rise above the prevailing cynicism to embrace the Child Saviour as the key to our personal union with God and our relations among one another.

May the missionary zeal of the shepherds proclaiming the good news be ours so that the witness of our lives shine like the star leading the wisemen to God.

May Christmas 2010 give us a different outlook on people and events so that Christ will not remain homeless.

A blessed Christmas and a happy new year 2011!

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